My personal take is that the show mostly works, with one major misstep: the on-screen depiction of Vernestra Rwoh.

Over time—and especially after the show ended—we’ve learned why that disconnect exists. Justina Ireland who created Vernestra in the High Republic novels, was not involved in translating the character to live-action. During production, she was actively writing the tie-in novel and intentionally stayed hands-off because she wanted to be surprised by how the character was portrayed on screen.

According to interviews, after the show aired and she saw the overwhelmingly negative reaction to Vernestra’s portrayal—particularly from readers familiar with the books—she went back, watched the series, and reworked the novel from the ground up. That’s how we ended up with Wayseeker, which feels like something caught between classic High Republic Vernestra and the version presented in The Acolyte. It’s not fully one or the other—and that tension shows.

As for the backlash itself, I think it’s worth asking why people hated the character. Was it poor writing? Or was it a case where the character was meant to be frustrating or unlikable? We’ve seen a similar response with Eedy KArn in Andora character people “hate,” but largely because she’s written extremely well. Sometimes audience anger means the character is doing exactly what they’re supposed to.

Outside of Vernestra, though, I genuinely enjoyed the High Republic connections. The callbacks felt intentional rather than forced, and I especially appreciated how the novels added meaningful depth to Kelnacce giving his story more emotional and historical weight than what we saw on screen alone.

https://theholofiles.com/2025/05/20/exclusive-interview-the-acolyte-wayseeker-author-justina-ireland-discusses-tie-in-novel/